CURRENT RADIO SERIES Dare to Believe   CURRENT TV SERIES His Story Your Story

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. --Psalm 16:11 God will sometimes take us to desert places… spiritually speaking… to purify and to prepare us for the greatest seasons of our lives. You may not like it, but it’s still true. He does his deepest works within us in the secret places. Think about Moses’ life. It was in the desert that God molded him as he could not do in the palace of Pharaoh. It was in the desert where God transformed a prince into a shepherd so he might use him to lead the children of Israel out of slavery’s captivity and to the Promised Land. So let me ask you. Have your decisions brought you to a desert place? If so, God will use the desert to fulfill a greater purpose in your life. It’s been said that Moses spent the first forty years of his life learning that he was something; he spent the next forty years learning he was nothing; and he spent the next forty years learning that God could make something out of nothing! It’s time to discover what God wants to make of your life! Let him use the desert times to prepare you for something bigger, something better in him!  GOD WILL USE THE DESERT TO FULFILL A GREATER PURPOSE IN YOUR LIFE. A Command for All Who Breathe by Dr. Paul Chappell “Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.” Psalm 150:3–6 The story goes that a man traveling for business ended up attending a church that was much more formal and liturgical than his regular place of worship. At one point when the preacher said something that really touched his heart, he said, “Praise the Lord” out loud. The congregation was shocked by the unexpected interruption. One man leaned forward and whispered to him, “We don’t praise the Lord here.” Another congregant responded, “Yes we do. It’s on page 15 of the Lectionary.” Praise is not something that is supposed to be uncommon. As long as we have breath in our lungs, we should praise God. In every situation and every circumstance we have something to be grateful for, and it should not be kept hidden. Too many times we only praise God when everything is going the way we think it should. But even in our worst moments, His praise should fill our mouths. After being unjustly arrested, beaten and thrown in jail, Paul and Silas had reason to complain. They did not. “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them” (Acts 16:25). Praising God is not restricted to Sundays at church. It should be part of our conversation with others and part of our thoughts. The words of praise that come out of our mouths are proceeded by thoughts of gratitude that build in our hearts until they cannot be contained. The praise we offer to God outwardly will not be what it should unless it is the overflow of what we are focused on internally.   Today’s Growth Principle:  When we praise God, it pleases Heaven, changes us for the better, and encourages others around us.